Stardew Valley is getting a surprise update with new content

Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, the creator of megahit farm builder/RPG Stardew Valley, announced via Twitter that the game will be receiving a 1.6 update. Though Barone qualifies that it's "mostly changes for modders" and much smaller in scope than 2020's 1.5 addition, it will have new content and is a large enough project that Barone is taking a break from working on the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier to deliver it.

For added context, the 1.1-5 updates have all featured new content for Stardew Valley, with 1.5 being practically a full-on expansion, including quality of life changes, a new farm, and a huge additional endgame area. Stardew Valley's last update, period, was 1.5.6 at the end of 2021, with a few supplemental hotfixes at the beginning of 2022⁠—that update was limited exclusively to bug fixes, however.

Barone's planned changes for modders are also interesting, especially since Stardew already has a robust mod scene as it is. Ease-of-use is one thing, but I'm curious as to what experienced modders will be able to accomplish with "more powerful" tools. Perhaps we will witness powerful new psychic frontiers of messing up your grandpa's deathbed.

I wouldn't read too much into the developer's break from working on Haunted Chocolatier⁠—just as before, it's coming when it's done. As for when we can expect to see Stardew Valley 1.6, I can't imagine the wait will be overly long. For more on Barone's follow-up to Stardew Valley, you can check out our hub with everything we know about Haunted Chocolatier.